CFP - Narrating Birth, Ageing and Death at Peking University

The 2nd Peking University International Conference on Medical Humanities: Narrating Birth, Ageing and Death

Sponsored by the Institute for Medical Humanities at Peking University

Over the past century advances in biomedicine and the rise of secularism have profoundly changed the ways that we practise, experience, narrate, and theorise birth, ageing and death. In response to global health challenges brought about by rapid demographic shifts –– overpopulation, environmental sustainability, and healthcare expenditure –– this conference aims to explore narratives, myths, and other cultural representations of birth, ageing and death from a wide range of critical, ethical, and aesthetic perspectives to inform the development of healthcare services, economics, and policy.

Rita Charon, Professor of Medicine and Executive Director of the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University

Brandy Schillace, Editor-in-Chief of BMJ Medical Humanities

Ma Xiaowei, Director of the National Health Committee

Zhang Yanling, President of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association

Zhan Qimin, Director of Medicine and Vice President of Peking University

We welcome submissions from scholars, early-career researchers, and graduate students from a range of fields including health and medical humanities, medical anthropology, medical sociology, medical history, philosophy of medicine, medical ethics, literature, and linguistics.

Paper topics may include but are not limited to:

The medicalisation of birth, ageing and/or death

Gender and childbirth

Postpartum confinement in China, Japan, Korea and other cultures

Myths of birth, ageing, and/or death

Symbols and metaphors of birth, ageing, and/or death in poetry, literature, life writing, science fiction, and comics

Portrayals of birth, ageing, and/or death in film

Narrative Medicine and birth, ageing, and/or death

Gender, culture, and healthy ageing in different cultures

Physical and mental health care in ageing societies

Elderly care and Confucian bioethics

Ageing and memory

Palliative care in multicultural contexts

Hospice care

Traditional palliative care practises past and present

Death and stigma

Dying with dignity

Last rites

Indigenous death rituals

Post-mortem photography

Elegies and obituaries

Burial practises among ethnic minorities

Death education

Include a title, name, institutional affiliation, a short bio (100 words), email address, and a 300-word proposal.